Employee Wellness programs helps employees gain an awareness of their choices and learn the wisdom of making healthy choices. We have all disregarded our health to hit deadlines, forcing out late nights 3 weeks in a row and trying to juggle work and social life. Life and work stresses get to us and we can see it more now than ever before.

Let this sink in:

It’s now more “normal” to be overweight than it is to be within the medically accepted body fat levels. Being average now means being overweight, according to the statistics.

How does this tie in with employee wellness?

Our sedentary working lifestyle is one of the main causes of this rapid increase.

The majority of us spend 7-8 hours a day sitting at our office desk.

This is followed by watching 4 hours of television a day.

This is then followed by (you guessed it) being sedentary whilst sleeping for 7-8 hours.

8 hours in work seated + 4 hours watching television seated + 8 hours of sleep = 20 hours of not moving what so ever.

This leaves only 4 hours left in your day to be active. For many of us even some of these 4 hours are spent commuting to work (usually seated too!).

All business directors/CEO/HR managers or anyone that has control over their employees needs to acknowledge their responsibility. That is their responsibility to provide their employees with education on health and wellness, opportunities to get out of their chair, provide healthy snacks and promote an active lifestyle in and out of work. Remember, your employees ARE your business, look after them.

What is Corporate Wellness?

Wellness is not simply being free of illness. The focus of wellness is to maintain the body in the best possible condition. This allows it to function efficiently and sustain high productivity state for a long period of time. Pro activity is fundamental to maintaining high wellness levels. This can be ensured through realizing the social, physical and mental needs required for the maintenance of highest functionality levels. We hear it more often than not these days, people complaining of being tired by “doing nothing”. Sedentary office work can lead to this which can lead to a decrease in productivity, which hinders the bottom line.

Employee wellness in the workplace is a campaign aimed at encouraging healthy activities.

Healthy employees will often yield positive results for the company. It’s a program designed for the purpose of promoting healthy behaviors to improve the health of the workforce, increase productivity and boost overall morale.

The Benefits of Using Corporate Wellness Programs for Employers

Stronger Workforce

Healthier employees means a stronger workforce.

Employee wellness programs have the potential to not only strengthen the employees themselves but also strengthen staff comradeship, improve relationships and increase overall productivity.

Save Money

A satisfied workforce is less likely to change jobs. The reduced staff turnover means a consistent improvement of employees and hence enhanced productivity.

With reduced absenteeism and lower stress levels, productivity will escalate. This can be translated into revenue and cash.

The Challenge of an Ageing Workforce

The challenge of an aging workforce presents unprecedented health challenges. It is in the interest of the employer to contain unhealthy behaviors and moderate expenses on healthcare. This can be achieved by investing in wellness programs. The return on investment on employee wellness programs is incredible.

The Benefits of an Corporate Wellness Program for Employees

Employee satisfaction is one of the most prolific benefits a wellness program brings in the workplace.

Compared to employees who do not participate in wellness programs, participating employees are better satisfied at work. Employees participating in wellness programs are also less likely to opt for new job opportunities within 12 months compared to the employees not participating.

Regular exercise has also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and heart attacks.

An Employee wellness program will help improve employee health long term with the obvious benefit of being healthier and happier for longer.

The Rise in Corporate Wellness

Some of the reasons that led to the rise of employee wellness are:

The shift in the general culture that endorsed and encouraged fitness

The formation of health advancement units

The emergence of study results that concluded that unhealthy employee habits led to high-cost consequences for the organizations.

More businesses are embracing employee wellness programs.

The Health Benefits of Corporate Wellness Programs

There is a health risk associated with each worker. Some of the risks include unhealthy eating, smoking, drinking, failure to exercise and genetic problems.

A wellness program can help deal with addiction and health issues effectively.

A wellness program will enable the employee better deliver on their responsibilities and have more energy and vitality to offer themselves to friends and family once they are off work.

Employee wellness programs would promote this and be able to offer employees the chance to exercise 20 minutes a day whilst being educated on healthy eating.

The employee wellness program can assist improve health even when it means acquiring knowledge on stress reduction and reduction in muscle strain during work hours.

A wellness program offer weight loss programs and assist in dealing with high cholesterol levels and hypertension.

Wellness programs also save the participant’s money. Some motivation will work towards steering the employees and wellness programs may be the right medicine.

What are the options?

Customise a wellness program to suit your company needs.

Wellness Days

Put together a fun, educational and uplifting wellness day for employees where we do Health and Fitness assessments.

There are about 69% of employees willing to take part in wellness programs whenever provided by the employer. This is an indication that employees are genuinely interested in the effort put forward by the employer. It is important, however, for employees to understand that a successful wellness program is entirely dependent on dedication and participation level coming from employees.

Other than offering the conventional incentives for membership in the gym, the employer should introduce the health examination procedure to assess employees’ health status.

Tests may include tests on cholesterol level for glucose and lipid panel, tests on the level of blood glucose, blood pressure test, BMI (Body Mass Index) test and weight checks.